JAY-Z Trademark Jaybo From “The Story Of O.J.” Video

JAY-Z files a trademark to protect his Jaybo animated character from “The Story Of O.J.” video and it makes perfect sense.

Last week news surfaced that his 4:44 album inspired a book about finance and now this week the rapper filed a trademark to protect the beloved character Jaybo from one of the singles on the project where he raps about money and finance, “The Story Of O.J.” TMZ reported on Monday that JAY-Z filed the trademark under his company S. Carter Enterprises.

The Jaybo character was inspired by the famous Sambo character from the 1899 children’s book, The Story of Little Black Sambo. The character is often characterized as racist due to his depiction and JAY-Z’s single also has a racial tone. There is also some resemblance to the character Dumbo from the 1941 film which also sparked condemnation of racism.

“The Story of O.J.” is the first video to be released from the album and it received raved reviews among rap critics. There are already some talks that JAY-Z is planning to release some merchandise featuring the Jaybo character like mugs and T-Shirts, or perhaps he could be featured in some upcoming music videos. During a recent interview with iHeartRadio, Hov spoke about the meaning behind the single, saying it was just a song about “we as a culture, having a plan, how we’re gonna push this forward. We all make money, and then we all lose money, as artists especially.”